A Diagnosis Murder Mother's Day
by islashlove
Summary: A murder on Mother's Day makes the gang think about their own mothers' and what they were to them.


**Disclaimer:**** I do not own anything that is from Diagnosis Murder. **

**Warning:**** None**

**Beta:**** Yes, I would like to say thank you to my Beta jerseybelle**

**Author's Notes:**** Happy Mother's Day to every mother out there.**

**Story Notes:**** A murder on Mother's Day makes the gang think about their own mothers' and what they were to them.**

**A Diagnosis Murder Mother's Day:**** By islashlove**

Dr. Mark Sloan sat at his desk looking over some paper work when his young friend, Dr Jesse Travis, walked in. At first Mark smiled at him, but the look on his face quickly wiped the smile away, replacing it with a worried look.

"Is something wrong, Jesse?"

"Mark, I…"

Jesse seemed reluctant to tell Mark what the problem was, so of course Mark's thoughts went to his son, who was a police office.

"Is it Steve?"

"No, oh god, Mark, no it's not Steve."

Jesse watched as Mark let out a sigh of relief. He should have known that Mark would have thought that he was here about Steve. How stupid can he be?

"Sorry, it's just, well…"

"Jesse, what is it?"

"I just had a young child come in and well she…"

"Didn't make it," Mark said as if he understood where Jesse was coming from.

"Yeah," Jesse breathed out in a sad sigh.

"You know we can't save them all."

"I know that, it's just that…her little body is covered in bruises and she drowned in her own bathtub."

"You think she was abused and murdered?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure and…with today being…"

"I know. I take it the mother was the only one with her."

"Yes."

"Come on, I'll have a look and I'll tell you what I think."

"Thank you, Mark."

As the two doctors walked down the hallway toward the morgue, Mark was lost in his own thoughts.

He couldn't understand how a woman could hurt their own children. They did it, yes, he had seen that many times as a doctor and as the consultant to the police. He just couldn't understand how they could do it, especially on a day like today. Mother's Day!

His own mother had been very strict, but she also had a very kind heart and Mark often thought of her and how she managed to carry on after his father left. He just wished that he could have had the chance to let her know that his dad hadn't just left, he had been murdered. He knows that it was still bad, but at least his mother wouldn't have cried herself to sleep each night as she blamed herself for him leaving.

Mark had also often thought of his late wife Katherine, Steve's mother, and how she was taken from them way too soon. But at the same time, she had been there long enough to teach all of them what they really needed to know. For Mark, it was how to have patience with the kids. He had a feeling he knew what Steve and Carol had learnt from their mother, but he wasn't sure.

As they walked into the morgue, they saw Amanda standing over the young girl's body. Jesse stopped as soon as they walked past the door frame. Mark gave him an understanding look and a gentle pat on the shoulder then walked over to Amanda.

Jesse watched as Mark took the short walk to where Amanda stood. He wanted to go over there, too. He wanted to hear Mark say that he had done everything that he could to save her, but he couldn't. The doubt was there in his head, the doubt that his mother had placed there years ago.

Jesse loved his mother, he really did. It was just that they didn't have a very close connection. He always did his best to do whatever would make her proud of him, yet it would never be good enough, or she was always too busy to take notice.

To be honest with himself, he only went into medicine in order to try and find a connection with her, but even then it was still not good enough. She would always doubt his ability to succeed and in this type of situation, fail to save a life, but in all things, he would never change the life he has now and the life he had lived, for it had made him stronger than he ever thought he would be.

As he listened to Mark and Amanda talking he looked around the morgue and especially Amanda's desk. She had it filled with paperwork and photos of her children D. J. and Deon, but there was some new stuff as well. He could see that she had two new cards, each having 'Happy Mother's Day' on then. Thinking about Amanda's life and what he knew about it, she was a very lucky woman.

Jesse heard Mark call his name and very reluctantly walked over to them and the small body on the table.

"Yes, Mark,"

Mark felt sorry for his young friend and although the end result was still the same, he hoped that what Amanda had found out might help ease the stress in Jesse's face.

"Jesse…" Amanda said as she placed a hand on Jesse's shoulder. She knew that it was hard on all of them when someone in their care died and for Jesse, he always took it to heart. "You didn't do anything wrong here. The little girl was dead long before she ever came into the ER."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, and she didn't drown either, there is no water in her lungs."

"But…the mother said…"

"Jesse," Mark said trying to get his attention. "Amanda found evidence that this little girl died from suffocation."

So…I didn't do anything wrong then."

"No, Jesse, you didn't do anything wrong, but we do need to report this. So excuse me while I go and call Steve."

"You can use my phone, Mark," Amanda said as she eyed Jesse off. She was worried about her friend.

Amanda looked back at the little girl's body. She could never understand how a mother could hurt their children, but then, she was very lucky with her life. In a way, Amanda felt that she was a lot luckier than other kids. Her mother wasn't just a kind and honest woman; she had personally chosen Amanda from all the other children that were in the system.

Amanda loved her mother. She never thought of her as just the woman who had adopted her, she was the woman who had love and cared for her. She had thought and wondered about her biological mother, the woman who had given birth to her and why she had given her up. But in the end it worked out just fine for Amanda, so on Mother's Day, Amanda gave this woman a silent thanks for giving her life and for the life she has.

Amanda again looked over the small body. It was just about covered in bruises and cuts and as the thoughts of her two sons came into her mind Amanda's body shivered involuntarily. She could never, and would never, understand a mother doing such a thing to their child. D.J. and Deon are her life and she would do anything that she could to protect them, even to the point to give up her life for theirs.

Amanda turned to face Mark as she heard him putting the phone down. He looked worried.

"Is something wrong?" Amanda asked as she watched him just standing there.

"I just spoke to Steve and it turns out that the mother had left the child at home alone."

"What type of mother does that?" Jesse said his anger showing in his voice.

"I guess this mother does."

"But she couldn't be more than three," Amanda added as she cast a sad look at the body again.

"She was four, actually, and it seems that the mother came home and found the child in the bathtub."

"She could be lying," Jesses said.

"She could have, but she's not. The people that went out with the mother were also with her when she found the body. They just thought that it was a tragic accident, but now, with the information I just gave them, they know that they need to find a killer. Amanda…" Mark said looking straight at her, "Steve wants to know if you can have a look and see if…"

"If she had been molested."

"Yes."

"Ok, I'll call you with the results."

"Come on, Jesse, we need to let the mother know what's happening."

Once they were out of the morgue and walking down the hall, Jesse decided to break the silence between them.

"Mark…"

"Yes, Jesse?"

"Even though she didn't kill her child, she is still most likely to have been the one to have put the bruises over her little body."

"Yes, she most likely was and she also abandoned her child by leaving her alone at home, but right now, we need to find out who killed the little one."

"I know."

Just as soon as Jesse and Mark walked into the waiting room, a woman jumped up and attacked and yelled at Jesse.

"You killed her! You killed my little baby!"

Mark grabbed Jesse and pushed him out of the room and then he stood in front of the woman to stop her from getting to him.

"What!" she yelled at Mark. "Are you going to protect that murderer?"

"Dr. Travis didn't kill your daughter, but she was murdered."

"What?" The mother seemed honestly shocked at the news.

"Your daughter didn't drown; she was suffocated before she was put in the bath."

"No, no, no, you're wrong. Who would hurt my little girl?" the mother said as she started to cry.

Mark thought the same thing as he watched another woman, obviously a friend of the mother, guide her over to a chair and helped her to sit down. The friend then faced Mark.

"What happens now?"

"A detective will be here soon to talk to you and…"

"No, no cops," the mother said shaking her head.

"I've sorry, but by law we have to report this to the police."

"No, I said no cops, I want my daughter's body and I want to leave."

The mother was now standing and moving towards Mark. It was just at this moment that hospital security stepped in.

"Can we help, Dr. Sloan?"

"Yes, these ladies are to stay here until the police arrive, please make sure of it."

"Yes, Doctor."

The guard stood in front to the door as Mark walked out to join Jesse who still looked like someone had kicked him in the stomach.

"I thought you could use security."

"Thanks, I did. I hope Steve finds the killer fast."

Just then Mark's pager goes off. After he looked at it, Mark grabbed Jesse's arm and started dragging him away.

"Amanda wants to see us, now."

As Jesse and Mark made their way back to the morgue, Steve found himself trying to navigate his way through the crime scene.

Steve looked around the bathroom once again. He understood that the family was poor and he understood that they had it hard. What he couldn't understand was how they could live in a mess like this.

The bathroom walls were covered in dirt and mold and the tub and sink looked like they had never been cleaned. Dirty clothes and towels lay in a pile on the floor, and the parts of the floor that you could see haven't been washed either.

The rest of the house wasn't much better. The walls and floors were dirty and covered in rubbish, rotting food, unclean laundry and dishes. As Steve walked back out into the hallway, a rat ran across the room kicking up some old newspapers revealing cockroaches underneath.

Steve knew that he had a good life and never really went without anything, his mother always made sure of that and she also made sure he never judged anyone because of their situation. Whether they were rich or poor, from a happy family or a broken one, Steve always had and always would give people the befit of doubt.

His mother was always like that and Steve was so glad for the time he had with her. Even in the last days of her life she was teaching him things and the most precious thing was to cherish every minute you get to have with those you love. It's a shame that this little girl's trust was betrayed by someone she had trusted.

Just then, Steve's phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and seeing it was from his dad, he answered it. He was hoping for once his dad could help wrap up this case quickly. Steve had somewhere he wanted to be, the same place he went every Mother's Day.

"Dad, what do you have for me?"

"The child wasn't touched sexually, and was most likely killed seven hours ago."

"The mother was home at that time."

"It looks like she might have killed her daughter before going out and then she put the body into the bath."

"Hoping that fact, and the fact she was out most of the night, would give her an alibi. Is she still at the hospital?"

"Yes she is. We had to get a security guard to keep her calm. She attacked Jesse, accusing him of killing her daughter."

"Is Jesse ok?"

"Not really, but if we arrest the right person for this crime, Jesse will get better."

"Ok, I'll be there soon. Bye, Dad."

"Bye, Son, and see you soon."

As Steve left the house, something caught his eye and he quickly made a call.

Thirty minutes later, Steve was putting handcuffs on the killer and leading her away. Mark was treating the mother who had collapsed as Steve arrested her best friend for murdering her daughter.

Two hours later the whole gang met and Steve was explaining to the others how he found out that it was the friend.

"You see, I was leaving the house when I saw a piece of paper pinned to the wall. I recognised the name and number of a social worker that assists families like this one to get their lives back together again. That included babysitting so the parents, or in this case the parent, had a chance to get out for a while.

I gave her a call and she had been babysitting the child, but the best friend had turned up saying that the mother had been in an accident and that she had come to look after the baby. Normally she wouldn't have left, but since she had known the friend, she allowed her to leave with the child.

All we can guess is that she went back after the social worker had gone and for some reason we hope to learn soon, killed the little one and put her in the tub."

"And do you think she will tell you why?"

"I don't know, Jesse; we can only hope so, for the mother's sake. Anyway, there is somewhere I need to go before I go back to the station, so catch you all at Bob's later." He headed out to a hail of 'good-byes' from everyone.

"And I'm the same, I really do need to go home and see my boys. See you later."

"Bye, Amanda," Mark said as she left. He then looked over to Jesse who seemed to be in deep thought. "Jesse?"

"What! Oh, sorry."

"Why don't you go and call her?"

"Call who?"

"Your mother."

"Thanks, Mark, I'll see you later."

"Bye, Jesse," Mark sat down at his desk. He knew Steve was off to visit his mother's grave and Amanda would go home and hug her boys for dear life. A case like this always had this type of affect on them all. Shaking his head, Mark just went back to his paper work, knowing that he and the rest of his friends would get through this just like everything else.

**The End**

**Thank you for reading and for reviewing my story.**


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